Friday, January 4, 2008

WANTED: Violent Glenelg Sexual Predator

A MAN wanted for a violent sexual assault on a young woman at Glenelg may have followed her home and could have been watching other women for several weeks.

The victim, aged in her 20s, had left work at Glenelg about 5.40pm on Thursday and walked through the Coles car park, through backstreets to Colley Tce, across Holdfast Marina and over the Patawalonga footbridge to her Glenelg North home.

Sexual Crime Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Mark Trenwith said the victim may have been followed and, as she reached her unit, near The Esplanade, the offender spoke to her briefly then forced his way inside as she entered about 6.10pm.

"She was violently sexually assaulted by this man, who was not known to her," he said.

"There was physical violence during the incident and she was detained against her will for a period of time; it's a vicious, frightening incident for this young lady to go through and we're very concerned about it".

Police are looking at recent crime reports in the area including break-ins, flashers and indecency offences to compare with the offender's description.

"Indecency offences sometimes can escalate to a serious offence like this," Det-Insp Trenwith said. He urged people to exercise caution in the area.

"Be on the lookout for anyone who matches this description . . . There has been at least one sighting of a man matching this description in this area in the past few weeks," he said.

The man is described as about 172cm tall, aged in his mid 20s, of stocky build, bald with hazel eyes and tanned complexion.

He was clean shaven when he attacked the woman and was wearing charcoal-coloured shorts, a grey T-shirt and red slip-on, sports-styled shoes. He spoke with an Australian accent.